


Warm

by ankostone



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Hetalia OCs, OC Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 13:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9326810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ankostone/pseuds/ankostone
Summary: After years of seperation due to the loss of personification status, Ordinal and Compass come back together, longing to be with each other once more. But Rosa is cold towards the idea of moving on, and Lucas cannot hold onto the past.





	

Ordinal stared up into the night sky. His eyes shown with a childish wonder, fitting for a young child who hadn’t seen snow since the previous winter. “Compass! It’s snowing!” He cheered.

Compass followed up behind her younger brother. Despite her being his senior by five years, Compass was still mesmerized by the wintery scene. “Whoa.” Was her only comment on it though. But in that one word held all the same joy as Ordinal’s cheers. 

The five-year-old boy took his sister’s hand and held onto it tightly, though it only lasted a moment. Rosa smiled down at Ordinal. It didn’t take much to please the young boy, but Compass would have done anything to do so.

After a moment of blissful silence, Ordinal laughed and ran across the open field. He was now more eager to move on than Compass had been. “Come on! We have to get to Italy!” He told her, as if it was she that was always lagging, when in fact only a few hours ago, he had been begging for a rest. Compass only rolled her eyes, the smile still on her face. She pulled the thin shawl she wore around her tighter, trying to fight of the cold, before she ran after her brother. 

“Slow down Ordinal! Italy isn’t going anywhere.” She said with a laugh as she caught up to him. Ordinal giggled and took his sister’s hand again, holding onto it as if he would lose her if he didn’t. They started in the same direction they had been traveling for many moons now, all in hopes of finding their new destined home. 

Snow fell from they sky as they walked, freezing the small personified directions, but neither one seemed to care as they walked hand in hand. Because on this December 24th, though they did not yet know what Christmas was, they felt the joy and love the season seemed to bring with it.

And as long as they were together, it was enough to keep them warm.

{~Many Many Many years later~}

Lucas stared at the door in front of him, the brown wood daring him to knock on it. How long had it been? Five years? Snow fell onto the 24 year old’s coat and hair, leaving a white sheet on him. But he still made no effort to knock. He looked up towards the dark sky, watching snowflakes fall. Lucas loved snow, rooting from his childhood. Or, what would be considered a childhood. He looked back at the door, not wanting to think of those times.

The door he stood in front of was his sister’s. He hadn’t seen her in years. And though neither he nor Rosa celebrated Christmas, and even though winter was probably the last season they would ever want to be together, Lucas still stood outside her door now, wanting to see his big sister. It had been so long, and he missed her. And this season always seemed to call for family. 

He brought his hand up to the door, hesitating slightly, before knocking on the hard wood. “Rosa?” He called out, hoping she was not home. Hoping she would hear his voice and ignore him. He could hurry off and never think of this again. It would be enough to him that he had tried. 

But from inside, he could hear someone scurrying about. “This better be fucking important.” Rosa stated angrily as she opened the door, but when her brown eyes met the hazel ones outside her door, they grew wide with shock.

The two sibling stared at each other a moment, both taking in how much each other had changed. They were almost unrecognizable to each other. Lucas had grown taller since Rosa had last seen him. And instead of seeing her little brother, she saw the features of an adult. Lucas couldn’t believe how much Rosa had changed either. She hadn’t grown any taller, and he now towered over her. And her once signature boy cut hair had grown down to her shoulders. 

“Merry Christmas?” Lucas started, trying to break the silence. It wasn’t an awkward one, but Lucas would rather break away from it. Even Rosa yelling was preferred over her astonished quietness. But Rosa just blinked and continued to stare up at the man before her. 

Lucas shuffled his feet and stared at the ground, suddenly regretting everything. This had been a stupid idea. Rosa wouldn’t want to see him. And though he loved her, it would only bring back to many memories of the past, neither which were ready for them. “I-I’m sorry I-I should have called or something I-”

“Ordinal?” Rosa whispered, making Lucas look up at her in shock once more. He hadn’t been called Ordinal in a long time. 

Years ago, the Personified Countries had decided the Compass Rose was not worthy of being personified. With modern technology, directions were pointless. And despite their begging and pleading, the two directions had been stripped of their immortality, which explained how they could grow so unfamiliar to each other. They were forced away, and told to forget their pasts, it would make things easier. But neither could forget the past. Especially each other.

Lucas had better moved on that Rosa had. Since he was even less important that the Compass Rose, he had been closer to humanity than his sister had, and he better adapted. But Compass could not move on. She locked herself away. Lucas hadn’t understood why until now.

She was still living in the past. 

“Rosa, you can’t call me that anymore.” He told her. She would never be able to let go if she held on like that. Lucas was determined to move on from Ordinal. He was now Lucas. And that was how it had to be.

“I know.” Rosa whispered, looking down. But she couldn’t move on as easily as her brother. And she didn’t wish to. She held onto every memory. 

Lucas just sighed. She didn’t know. “Can I please come in?” He asked shivering. And though most would thing it was the snow that chilled him, but in reality, it was his old name that brought the cold. 

Rosa nodded and stepped out of the way so her brother could come in. He nodded his thanks and walked inside, feel the warmth of the house, and yet his body was still cold. He started to remove his hat and coat, before Rosa rushed over and helped him, taking the articles away and hanging them up for him. Lucas just chuckled at the scene. 

“Still the same I see.” He said, but realized the choice of words were not the best. Because it just proved she was refusing to move on. It made him sad that his sister still so desperately held onto Compass. But in a way, he was also glad. Because that was the sister he knew and love. If she had changed, they would be strangers. 

And maybe that was why she treated him like one now.

“Can I offer you anything to eat or drink?” She asked him once she was finished hanging up his coat. “Had I known you were coming…” Rosa trailed off. She had honestly expected to never see her brother again, since now they weren’t even true siblings. She knew it would be too painful to bear. To see him move on as she known he would. He so easily left behind a thousand years of history they had made. But she always thought of Ordinal. Even if she was angry he moved on. But she could never stop seeing her little brother. Especially today, as snow began piling up outside. She would never be able to stop seeing her five-year-old brother, playing in the snow, searching for Italy. It always made her smile. How could Ordinal so easily move on?

Lucas chuckled nervously. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Honestly, it had been a last minute decision. He hadn’t expected to get as far as he had. 

“I just wanted to…I really wanted to see you Rosa.” Because despite his willingness to move in, Lucas would never stop thinking of Rosa as his sister. He may have been able to move from his life before, but he would never forget that it was Rosa who took care of him when he cried, and held him when he had no one to turn to. She had always been his rock, even when they were apart. He loved her so much. 

But not, it was Rosa’s turn to look away. She had wanted to see him too. But not Lucas, she wanted Ordinal. She couldn’t watch him move on. She didn’t want Lucas, she wanted her little brother. And though he claimed he wanted to see her, in her heart she knew he wanted to see if she had moved on. And she was disappointing him greatly. It was why she had to move away from Lucas. She couldn’t watch him move on/

“It’s okay.” She said, though it was not okay. It would never be okay.

They both stood, neither one able to look at the other. She was unable to move one, and that was all he wanted. 

They weren’t a perfect fit anymore. 

Lucas sighed and walked over to Rosa. “How have you been?” He asked her. She looked up at him. She had never once had to look up at Lucas. He had always been shorter than her. 

“I’ve been fine.” She said, though their definitions of fine were very different now. Rosa’s fine was living in the past. Spending each day trying not to forget. And Lucas’s fine was moving on. Trying to forget who he truly was, because it hurt too much to remember. He just sighed. He knew the difference between their now separated worlds. 

It was a mistake coming here. 

Lucas shook his head. “Well, I just wanted to check in on you. I can be leaving now if you want.” He told her. He didn’t want to leave, but he felt unwelcomed in her home that still held her in the past. Rosa’s eyes grew wide. She couldn’t let him leave. 

“No wait!” She said, putting her hands up to stop him. Lucas cocked an eyebrow. 

“Ordi-…Lucas…” Rosa started, shaking her head. 

“Please don’t leave me.” She said, before resting her head on chest. Lucas blushed in spite of himself, but he was not used to the contact from her. 

“I know you want to move on Lucas. But give me right now.” She begged him. “Let me pretend you don’t hate me. Let me pretend I was able to protect you.”

Lucas’s eyes grew wide. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But Compass continued on. 

“I can’t move on Lucas. I don’t want to. Please let me have tonight.”

Lucas looked down at his sister. She had never seemed small before now. Now she looked helpless. And Lucas began to realize why she was holding on. 

It was because she couldn’t forgive herself.

“Hey, don’t talk like that.” Lucas said, patting his sister’s back. He didn’t want to think of the past, but here she was, dragging him down. But Rosa needed this. More so than him needing to move on. 

“I could never hate you Rosa.” He told her, pushing her away so he could look into her eyes. He had never felt older than Rosa until now. She had always been his senior in everything. But now, he comforted her as if he was the big sibling. 

“And you did your best.” He didn’t want to speak of the past, so he kept it as vague as possible. 

“You were always there for me Rosa.” He said. Rosa just shook her head. 

“I don’t want to move on Lucas. I don’t want to forget who we were.” She admitted to him. And Lucas nodded. He could see the logic in that. And as he looked into her eyes, for a moment, he didn’t want to lose her either. 

“You…don’t have to move on.” He told her, shocking her a bit, hell he had shocked himself too. 

“But-“

“Rosa. If you want to hold onto the past…I will support you.” He told her, brushing the hair away from her face. “I can’t say I can so easily hold on to myself…I have lost more than you know…” He admitted.

“But I will always be here for you. Because you had always been there for me.” He smiled at her.

But suddenly, Rose wanted more. As she stared up at her brother, she realized his visit wasn’t enough. She looked towards the window and watched as the snow built up outside, Rosa realized that winter brought more than memories. It brought her dissatisfaction. She wanted her life back. The one she had formed with her brother. She looked away from the window, and back to her brother. 

“Ordinal, we can’t stop now. We need to get to Italy.” She said, a small smile pulling at her face. She could barely get the words out of her mouth. They were almost painful to speak. 

But she earned the attention of her brother, who blinked, almost unsure if he had heard her right, if it wasn’t for the fact he had heard her say it many times when he was younger. 

“Rosa, please…” He started. Even though he had said he would support her, he wasn’t sure if he could play along, but she insisted. 

“Come on Ordinal.” She said, taking his hand in her own, holding onto them as gently as a mother held a child’s. Her brown eyes were filled with desperate hope. She needed him to play along. She needed it, and Lucas realized he could not disappoint her. Not after the many disappointments she had encountered in life. So, he rolled his eyes playfully, now willing to play along. 

“Okay…Compass.” He hadn’t uttered that word in five years. Not in anyway or form. And the first time it fell off his tongue as a human, was to address his fallen sister. And, in a way, it couldn’t have been used better. He smiled down at Rosa, and a lump formed in her throat. He looked just like her younger brother once more. He was not a stranger standing in the snow. But the young boy who had played in it many years ago. 

And that was when she realized, despite her power being stripped from her. Despite her and her brother’s fallen status, they were not dead. 

Compass and Ordinal lived on. 

Lucas held onto his sister’s hand as he had once before. Like the scared boy who still remained to this day. And she held onto his just the same as well, like a scared girl trying to stay strong for the one she loved. Rosa led Lucas to the front door, wanting to head outside. She opened the door, and they were instantly hit with the cold air. It chilled their bodies, but it was unfelt, for the warmth in their hearts was enough to fight off any blizzard. 

They both stood in the doorway a moment, staring out into the world before them. The world that had tossed them away. But the wintery scene distorted the world, and all the two siblings could see was the bright future, even if it was mixed with snow. Lucas smiled, determined to chase that future, and took off running into the vast.

“Compass it’s snowing!” He cheered, staring up into the sky once he had gone a good distance. Snow fell all around him, landing on his warm skin and melting instantly. He closed his eyes, enjoying the warm feeling the cold brought him. A feeling he thought he had left in the past, but realized he missed the most.

“Don’t get too far ahead, Ordinal!” Rosa called out, sounding like a concerned mother, though in reality she was nothing more than a happy sister. She walked after her brother, rubbing her arms to keep warm. Though she could still feel the chill, it was only a memory. For the only cold that bothered her was her pasts, and even now, that left her unfazed. When Rosa finally reached her brother, Lucas turned to her and hugged her tightly to him. He hadn’t hugged his sister in over five years. She had never been fond of affection. But in that moment, she hugged her brother back, and enjoyed his presence. One she had missed for so long. 

“I love you, Compass.” Lucas said, sounding like a confession. And though Rosa was aware he loved her, to hear him say it made tears prick at her eyes. Because honestly, she had always doubted she would ever hear him utter those words once more. Lucas rested his head on top of Rosa, holding her close to him. Though he was no longer small, his sister still brought him comfort. And though he wished he could once more be held in his sister’s arms, this was the best he could ever wish for.

“I love you too, Ordinal.” Rosa cried, resting her cheek against Lucas’s chest. Tears feel down her cheeks as the snow fell on them from the sky. She closed her eyes and cuddled closer to her brother. She had never been able to do so before now, he had always been smaller, and she realized she liked the feeling of someone holding her. No one had before. 

And in that moment, both Rosa and Lucas realized this is what they needed. Though they did not celebrate Christmas, nor did either one believe in miracles, they realized this was both a gift and a miracle. They had the one thing that many winters they had had, and never appreciated, and took many winters to realized they missed most.

Once again, they had each other.


End file.
